Sunday, February 19, 2012.
The Inevitable Pile. Chicken Three Thai Ways.
If you're the only person in your business, you can't return from a vacation without having a terrific backlog of work to do. It's the only thing I really hate about my career--but I can't complain, since the rest of it is such a pleasure. Mary Ann left me alone to work through my pile while she hung out with her brother and Mary Leigh, then attended tonight's party at Kevin Kelly's place. Kevin has open house every day the week before Mardi Gras. With a location like that, the gesture makes a lot of friends.
The only break in the plowing was for lunch at Thai Thai. Ricky had a busy house, even at the slack hour of two in the afternoon. I began with some tasty chicken satays--grilled, thin strips of white meat on skewers. I wonder whether they remind Ricky of all the years he spent running the extinct Takee Outee on Bourbons Street in the 1970s, where almost everything was served on a stick.
After that, I reverted to an old favorite: green Thai curry with chicken, eggplant, coconut milk, and a few other vegetables. This is near the top of my list of favorite Thai dishes, but for the past couple of years I've neglected it in order to work my way through the rest of the classic Thai catalog. That has been a worthwhile endeavor, revealing at least two incredibly good dishes: pad prik king (a spicy, juicy stew with green beans, garlic, and a unique flavor I can't put my finger on) and Panang curry, the orange variety that goes so well with shrimp or pork.
Then back to work, during which I was reminded of another disadvantage to going on vacation: it creates so many stories to tell in the diary that the pieces are much longer than normal. The report on Cozumel was six pages long, 2000 words. But it just flows.
Thai Thai. Covington: 1536 US 190. 985-809-8905.
It's over three years since a day was missed in the Dining Diary. To browse through all of the entries since 2008, go here.
